5 Minute Pasta- Pappardelle con Gamberi e Porri- a Meatless Monday Cheat

Hi All! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that Monday isn't being TOO awfully hard on you.

As I said last week, Casa Bramasole is in the midst of some potentially major changes (stay tuned....), so time is of the essence lately. I had promised to post some chocolate goodies that Allie and I whipped up for Mr B on his day, but, as sometimes happens, they weren't QUITE what we expected.

Something that gooey and chocolatey should make you swoon, right??

Not so much. They were "okay" but just "okay" is just not good enough to share with you all. 

This brownie recipe came from a local publication- these caramel brownies are a specialty of a fabulous bakery in Charlotte, but somehow, they lost something in the translation. Interestingly, another blogger told me these have been showing up all over the Net- I'd be interested to know if we were the only ones not impressed. We're going to tweak these a bit, then bring them back- the concept is just too good to give up on

Now THESE.....!

THESE were GOOD! 

Buttery, gooey, salted caramels (I used the pink Himalayan salt- isn't it pretty?!)

The recipe for these will be posted on our Facebook Fan page tonight, so be sure to come on over and "like" us here

Today for Meatless Monday I'm going to cheat just a bit. I happened to have some gorgeous shrimp that needed to be used up, and since Mary at One Perfect Bite says it's okay, then it's okay by me. If you've never been over to Mary's blog, you're missing something special- this is one of my very favorite daily reads

This is a recipe I've had literally for years- from WAY before I even knew what a blog was (okay, so that was just a few months ago...) and certainly way before I ever thought I'd be writing anything and the importance of crediting the source. So please forgive me for not remembering where this came from, but it's been at least 25 years (I can't believe I just admitted to that!).

Anyway, this can easily be done in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta and it's one of my very favorite quick pastas. I once made this for a friend who dropped in unexpectedly for lunch and this tiny, petite little person finished off the whole platter- a pound! (minus what I ate of course....)

Just a few simple ingredients.....

a little Brandy, a little cream......

(Pasta with Shrimp and Leeks)

Pappardelle con Gamberi e Porri

1 pound pappardelle or fettucine

about 3/4 pound fresh raw shrimp- peeled, deveined, and chopped into 3 or 4 pieces

3 leeks, washed and trimmed- halve lengthwise and cut crosswise in very thin slices

6-8 scallions, washed and trimmed- finely chopped

6 TBLSP unsalted butter

2 TBLSP chopped fresh tarragon

salt, to taste

zest of 1 1/2 lemons

1/3 cup Brandy

1/2 cup (maybe slightly more) heavy cream

ground white pepper, to taste

Put a large pot of well salted water on to boil. When boiling, add pasta, stir and cook till al dente. In the meantime:

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add leeks and scallions and saute about 5 minutes till softening. Add shrimp, tarragon, salt, and lemon zest. The licorice-y aroma of the tarragon will be divine. This brought Allie right out of her room on the second floor to see what was cooking! :) Toss and saute 2-3 minutes till shrimp starts to cook and turn pink.  Add Brandy and cook till almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add cream and pepper and remove from heat. Drain pasta and serve topped with sauce- if too dry, add a bit of cream

**NOTE- I have also made this with Vermouth

Have a wonderful day!

As Always,

Buon Cibo, Buon Amici,

Pattie and Allie